Track It

Facilitated by Dina Steinberg

Duvy Perkowski of Duvys Media has been designing and developing companies’ websites for over 20 years. He also founded RayzeIt, an innovative and efficient fundraising platform. Utilizing his extensive business and marketing experience, Duvy advises business owners, helping them maximize the dormant potential within their companies. Here, he shares the power of tracking data and explains how you can use the numbers to make the most of your business.

Track employee productivity

Tracking data is crucial. Having the information gives you material to study what is and isn’t working and serves as a road map for improving everything from output to earnings.

Tracing productivity is critical; it allows you to determine not only who’s accomplishing what, but also how much time each project requires.

Once you have a clear understanding of employee output, you can weed out the tasks that waste time by streamlining or automating redundancies, raising prices for labor-intensive tasks, or even discontinuing services that aren’t worth the time they cost. Work smarter, not harder. Cut or adjust unnecessary time drains and see how your staff can accomplish more by focusing only on the things that really matter.

It is not about how hard your employees are working; it’s about how smart they’re working. It’s about how efficient their systems are and how much time they spend on unnecessary tasks.

Productivity information can also guide you when making decisions regarding promotions, raises, and investments in your employees.

Time is money; every hour that your employees spend at work should serve the company’s goal.

Tracking ad output

Businesses spend thousands of dollars on advertising but often neglect to take the one simple step that makes it all the more effective: make all output traceable so you know which campaigns and platforms are working for you. Set up all ads, discounts, and promo codes so that you can track them.

Use as many tags as you can for data that is detailed and specific. Trace which styles, placements, colors, and catchphrases work best, and use the information for more impactful future ads.

Track sales

When you track data and crunch the numbers, you know exactly what is going on in your company. Look out for consistencies and common denominators, and apply successes to other areas of the business.

A recent example played out in a beauty supplies shop. Its proprietors believed that their cheapest products would be their best sellers and focused on offering low prices. But after tracking sales, they noticed a pattern. Quality, authentic products with labeling like “clinician approved,” “preferred by salons,” and “backed by professionals” sold more than their bargain counterparts, despite the steeper prices. Of course, the store owners quickly switched gears and began to supply more of the superior items.

Tracking your sales allows you to learn the reasons behind your best sellers and which items are not worth stocking up on. With that knowledge in mind, you can focus on the things that really bring in profits.

Track everything, even data that you aren’t using

So much of business is math; you need to know the numbers that comprise your company.

The fact that you aren’t utilizing your data today does not mean that you won’t need—and make use of—those numbers in the future. One of the most frustrating and easily avoidable mistakes you can make is neglecting to record every scrap of data you can. You never know which seemingly unimportant piece of information will prove instrumental to your business strategy, inventory, or ad campaign.

Story

A Dramatic Turnaround

Matt, a local business owner, recently approached me for help in increasing his company’s bottom line. Matt runs a computer software enterprise, and he wondered if he would have to increase his prices or downsize in some way to make the business more profitable.

We went over all of the numbers and soon learned that with a bit of restructuring, Matt’s workers could be better organized and more efficient. Further digging revealed that a large chunk of the affiliates’ time was spent filling in paperwork and performing other menial tasks.

Once we pinpointed the issue, we were able to work on solutions, including developing automated record systems and hiring a secretary.

Soon, employee productivity had noticeably increased, and the workers—who had nothing to worry about except doing their actual jobs—were less stressed and more focused.

Matt reached out six months later to tell me about the dramatic changes he was seeing. His returns had increased just as he’d hoped, plus the work environment at his business was happier and more efficient.